The Best Apps for Sleep

Five years ago, I did a sleep study at the Weill Cornell Medical College Center for Sleep Medicine. It was for a story. I didn't actually think I had a problem. Until the next morning when Dr. Ana Krieger, MPH, walked in with my overnight report. “You wake up an awful lot during the night,” she said with a measure of concern. “Yeah. I'm just like that,” I replied half-hearted. I thought it was totally normal to wake up numerous times a night. Turns out it might have been “normal” for me; but it wasn't healthy. “It disrupts the architecture of your sleep, so you aren't getting enough deep rest,” said Krieger.

Upon her advice I started wearing earplugs (evidently I just hear and wake to every little bump in the night) and now usually rouse only once, if at all. Since then, I've learned to really appreciate and respect my sleep. Evidently so have a lot of others. Sleep tracking—monitoring how much we toss and turn (or not) during the night—is as hot as tracking how much we sit and move during the day and an equal number of devices and apps have exploded on the scene to help you catch more winks.

Sleep tech apps and devices range from the very basic apps that help you fall asleep with nature sounds and help you track your sleep to the more sophisticated that use your phone's accelerometer or a stand-alone monitor to capture your movements during the night. Krieger is happy that these apps exist, but wary of their effectiveness. “For so long, sleep wasn't a priority. So it's great that we now appreciate that sleep is important,” she says. “But there's not a lot of scientific evaluation in the industry right now, and some underestimate sleep deprivation. My hope is as they become more popular, they'll become more scientifically based.”

In the meantime, she recommends using common sense if you want to give sleep apps a go. “Basic ones that help you relax and fall asleep are probably best,” she says. “I've seen clients actually lose sleep over stressing about sleep apps. These should be enhancing and improving your life, not keeping you up at night.”

Here are a few popular apps that promise an easier, more restful trip to Slumberland. One important note: When using a phone app that monitors motion to determine sleep quality, remember that if you're sharing the bed with a partner, whether human, canine, feline or other, they may mess up your algorithms with their own movement.

Sleep Time+ ($1.99 iOS; free Android)
Promises to lull you to sleep with white noise or soundscapes. Place it on the corner of your bed face down and it tracks and graphs your movement during the night. You can also set an alarm that is supposed to wake you at your lightest sleep phase (so it's less jarring) based on your sleep patterns.
Similar app: Sleep Cycle ($1.99 iOS, $1.69 Android)

Pillow (Free iOS)
Offers sleep-aid melodies and wake-up sounds to help you fall asleep. Placed on your mattress by your pillow, the app records snoring and sleep talking as well as monitors your movement during the night. Pillow also offers a smart alarm to wake you at the optimum point in your sleep cycle. It also tracks moods. Daily graphs provided, but you need to upgrade to premium ($4.99) for long-term analysis.
Similar app: Sleepbot (Free iOS, Android)

Sleep Genius ($4.99 iOS, free with in app purchases Android)
Genius was developed by a NASA research team to help astronauts sleep. This app focuses less on monitoring sleep and more on getting you to fall and stay asleep. Genius shuns nature sounds and white noise, but instead uses “pink noise,” which is more consistent and rhythmic than white noise and has been shown in studies to improve restful sleep by 23 percent. It also features sleep tracking, a relaxation program, power nap feature, and gentle smart alarms.

Beddit Sleep Monitor ($119 to $149)
More sophisticated monitoring systems like Beddit are popular among trainers and coaches we spoke to. Beddit works by syncing via Bluetooth to a sensor placed over your mattress. It's pricier than a simple app for sure, but it also monitors heart rate, respiration, recovery, and other factors that affect (and are affected by) your training.Info: beddit.com

ResMed S+ ($149)
This bedside monitor measures movement using low-power radio waves (similar to echolocation in bats) to detect your movement during the night. It also monitors respiration and your sleep cycles as well as potential sleep disruptors like ambient light and room temperature. It includes a program to synchronize soothing sounds with your breathing to help you fall asleep more easily as well as a Mind Clear feature that allows you to voice text those sleep-disrupting late night notions so you can stop thinking and start sleeping.Info: resumed.com

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